The Trial of Jamie Madrox
by Beastbot X
Summary: Jamie's highly-publicized trial for the crimes of his duplicates commences, but neither side could expect the final outcome! Twenty-sixth in my X-Men Evolution series.
1. Chapter 1

"The Trial of Jamie Madrox, Part I"

by Beastbot

_(Author's Note: Just a bit of a fun, trivial bit regarding my fanfics—I've always thought that in the Marvel universes, DC is by far the best-selling comics company—in other words, there is no Marvel comics. So when Jamie talks about liking comics, he's not talking about reading the Avengers or Thor. Only Deadpool gets to get THAT close to breaking the fourth wall.)_

"Hrrmh."

"I told you. You honestly think I would lie to you? I realize when I'm outclassed, you know. I'm not stupid."

"Urrrgghh..."

"What are you—"

Sinister was interrupted as a large stone brick near the center of the Mayan pyramid ruins levitated into the air briefly before being loudly shoved aside as Apocalypse made the appropriate gesture with his hands.

Wordlessly, En Sabah Nur made his way to the indentation that had been left in the ground by the huge stone, Sinister following curiously.

To Sinister's surprise, he found a small hole in the ground underneath the stone.

"Well. Will you look at that?" Sinister said. "It appears the mobs weren't quite as thorough as I had been led to believe."

"That brick is heavier than it appears," Apocalypse said absentmindedly as he bent over to look inside the hole in the ground. "It was infused with extra mass after I had my slaves implant it here. Bricks similar to it surround this small chamber below ground."

"…Wait, what? How exactly do you _infuse_ something with more mass?" Sinister asked as Apocalypse went down on his stomach, reaching one of his hands deep into the hole and feeling around.

"Ah, it is still here," Apocalypse said, smiling as he stood up again, this time clutching a small, gray, diamond-shaped object with pulsing blue veins running through it.

"And what exactly is 'it'?"

"I am not in the business of answering questions—you are," Apocalypse said, pulling down the hood on his jacket. Reaching up, he pushed the diamond into his forehead, the object effortlessly (and apparently painlessly) melding with his flesh. "This is… something for later. Now, are all of my pyramids in such a… disheveled manner as this one?"

"You mean the Sphinx and the other two pyramids you used to try to force-evolve the entire population of this world? Yes, I should think so," Sinister explained. "You really think any government would get in the way of the huge mobs that tore apart the very artifacts that threatened their existence? To be sure, they were depowered, but for peace of mind they had to be destroyed. In fact, in the time since you, er… left… every pyramid in the world has been reduced to a pile of rubble. Even though, from what anyone could tell, none of the others you had anything to do with. They were just monuments of stone to dead gods. A tragedy, really—so many historical relics destroyed. But you could hardly blame the paranoia of the masses after what happened."

"Hrrrm. So you say that they discovered no others?"

"Of course not. …_Are_ there others?"

"One," Apocalypse said, pulling up his hood again as he walked back down to the small H.Y.D.R.A. stealth jet waiting for them on the outskirts of the ruins. The vehicle's cloaking field was only barely visible under the light of the full moon. "If you follow my instructions to the letter and cease your relentless prattle, you _may_ live to see it."

"I see," Sinister said, falling silent for a few moments before speaking up again. "So if I continue to do exactly what you say, you'll actually refrain from killing me after taking my entire organization hostage? How generous."

Apocalypse suddenly turned around, one of his eyes glowing red. Reaching out with his arm, he telekinetically pulled Sinister up into mid-air by the throat and began to squeeze.

"Understand this," Apocalypse growled, "Though I am partially depowered, you are still nothing to me. I need your organization right now, but not you. You may make things… easier… but if you continue to annoy me I will end you without a second thought. Understand?"

"Yes…. Lord… Vader…" Sinister choked.

Apocalypse clutched his hand tighter.

"Alright… alright!" Sinister said as his neck began to visibly collapse.

Apocalypse stood there for a moment, enjoying Sinister's suffering for a second before finally letting the former H.Y.D.R.A. leader drop to the ground, coughing and hacking. Such a crushing grip would have killed any human easily, but Sinister's healthy regeneration factor kicked in as soon as Apocalypse let go, though the albino Mutant still clutched his throat.

"Now," En Sabah Nur said, "Since the Sphinx and my primary pyramids are all destroyed, we must still lay low for some time. However, we will not be inactive—we will become the puppet masters of this world. Your existing organization will make this considerably easier."

Sinister opened his mouth to say something, but for once thought better of it and merely nodded.

"To gain the advantage I need I will require directing circumstances towards a certain end. The end result will lessen my enemies, and separate the wheat from the chaff."

"The wheat from the chaff… are you talking about humans and Mutants, or Mutants and other Mutants?" Sinister asked.

"Both."

* * *

><p>"Ah. Miss Laurie Collins, I presume?"<p>

The moderately tall, slender, blonde young woman in bellbottoms and a loose-fitting shirt imprinted with colorful flower designs merely stood there on the other side of the doorway, regarding Xavier and Ororo a moment before responding. Her circular tinted glasses kept her eyes hidden and her expression initially unreadable.

"…Yes. Yes, this is she," Laurie finally said hesitantly.

"Pleased to meet you. I'm Professor Charles Xavier," Xavier said, holding out his hand to shake hers. Laurie merely crossed her arms in response. After a few moments of awkward silence, Xavier put his hand back at his side.

"I know who you are, you know," Laurie said, absentmindedly running a hand through the bangs of her long hair, which nearly reached past her waist.

"I would imagine so," Xavier smiled. "The X-Men have been in the news… quite a bit lately. I would assume then, you know the reason why I am here?"

Laurie sighed. Xavier wasn't sure because of her spectacles, but given the tone of the sigh he wouldn't have been surprised if she had rolled her eyes.

"You're here because I'm a Mutant that recently moved to Bayville and you want me to join your club."

"…Well, it's a bit more than just 'joining our club', Laurie," Xavier explained. "We're here for _you_, after all. The Xavier Institute is all about helping young Mutants such as yourself, both in keeping you from persecution from those who do not fully understand us, and in helping you to control, and possibly grow, your natural Mutant gifts."

"Uh-_huh_," Laurie said, obviously not convinced. After another awkward moment of silence, she took off her tinted glasses before responding in full.

"Did it ever occur to you that there are Mutants who, I dunno, don't want to take sides? That we just want to live our lives? You say that we shouldn't be treated differently just because we're born different… well, I hear all you X-Men are treated a _lot_ differently. A whole Mansion, a 'Danger Room' to fight in, uniforms, the works. To me that sounds pretty different from an average life."

"Well, much of that is more focused on training one's powers," Xavier said, trying to meet Laurie's blue eyes with his, but her gaze constantly shifted to avoid looking directly at him. "We are, of course, different from your average human being, and thus have different needs. But by learning to control our powers, I hope we can eventually blend in with humanity and have them accept us as equals."

Laurie's face twitched slightly at that last word, but Xavier continued: "Of course, if you do accept my invitation to join the Institute, that doesn't necessarily mean you need to stay there forever, if you find such a lifestyle doesn't suit you. For example, Ray Crisp, a recent student of mine, recently left to pursue a college degree in Texas."

"Gee, that's nice, but I'm pretty sure that if you already know where I live, that your Cerebral machine or whatever it's called also picked up that I'm already in college. So—"

"You don't necessarily need to stay at the Institute full-time," Ororo interjected. "You certainly have a lovely apartment. If you'd just allow us to come in for a moment, we could—"

"I'm. Fine," Laurie interrupted, the whites of her eyes starting to turn a dull yellow. "In fact, I have pretty good control over my powers. Let me _show_ you."

Suddenly, Xavier and Ororo were both gripped with an intense, irrational fear. Neither of them knew why, but they knew they had to get out of here. _Now._

Too scared even for words, Ororo launched herself into the air as fast as she could, tears of pure terror streaming down her face as she quickly zipped into the sky, higher and higher, faster and faster until she was a mere dot on the horizon.

Xavier screamed at Ororo incomprehensibly, somehow managing to eke out the words "No… no, _take me with you_!" before putting his wheelchair in a quick reverse from Laurie's doorstep—up until it hit the curb and tipped over slightly, Xavier falling out of his chair.

Laurie just chuckled as she watched the paralyzed, weeping man grapple at his chair ineffectually for a few moments with his arms before finally managing to shift his weight and get it upright again.

As he wheeled down the road as fast as he could, ignoring his car parked across the street, Laurie called out to Xavier in a sickeningly sweet tone, "Oh, and I almost forgot—thank you for invading my right to privacy with Cerebro! I really appreciate it!"

With about a dozen people staring at her, Laurie chuckled and shut her front door, the yellows of her eyes changing back to white as she did so.

* * *

><p>Xavier was a couple blocks across town when he saw Ororo pull up on the street next to him, driving his car. Xavier quickly wheeled up to the car as she temporarily parked it on the side of the street and got out, a look of guilt on her face.<p>

"Charles, I—I don't know what happened," Ororo said, choking back tears. "I just… suddenly I had to get away, and I'm sorry I left—I never should have—"

Xavier held up a hand to stop Ororo's apology. "Ororo, trust me, I understand. Remember, we knew about her powers before we met with her. Laurie can emit some sort of pheromones that rapidly change the moods of those around her into whatever she wants—anger, happiness, sadness, or—in our case—intense fear. I was gripped under the same spell."

"I just- I didn't know it could happen so quickly! Or that it could be so intense…"

"Neither did I," Xavier said, shaking his head. "Still, in retrospect, she is in college, so she's likely been dealing with it for at least a few years now. I should have expected that she was able to exert a fair amount of control over it. I just didn't think she'd be so hot-headed to use it against us, though…."

"Well, those… pheromones… wore off in about a minute or so. I flew back down and landed, making sure she was gone before I did so. Then, not seeing you, I just got in the car and drove around until I found you."

"Thank you," Xavier said as Ororo opened up the backseat and helped him into it before folding up his wheelchair. "I don't understand it, though. The girl moves here from out-of-state, and Bayville University is small, more of a community college—usually not a university one travels a long way to go to. I figured what with her being a Mutant and moving to Bayville, she was trying to get our attention—especially with all the Mutant disappearances lately, I figured she at least wanted to move here for some sort of protection."

"Well, perhaps she has a relative here that she knows," Ororo said as she closed the back door and got into the drivers' seat again. "You didn't do _that_ thorough of a search on her background, you know."

"Well, of course," Xavier said. "I rarely do, precisely for reasons of privacy."

"I realize that," Ororo responded, "But going forward, we may want to know a bit more about the young people we're trying to recruit. With it being so chaotic lately, they might be suspicious of our motives—both because of the Mutant disappearances and because of the… incident a short while ago with Jamie. We're going to need to prepare a bit more than we did with, say, Kitty's parents."

"I think if nothing else, our encounter with Laurie has taught me that," Xavier replied, smiling sadly. "And of course, as much as we might wish otherwise, many Mutants simply will not want to 'take a side', as Laurie put it. They want to stay out of it, and perhaps make their powers as little a part of their life as possible. I hardly blame them, mind you, with all the fuss that's going on lately."

"Well, with the Registration Act coming up and all the disappearances, I don't think any undecideds will have that luxury much longer," Ororo said. "Whether they like it or not, they will need to choose which path they're going to follow."

"Yes," Xavier nodded. "And I certainly hope most of them will choose the right one."

* * *

><p>"Alright, let's try this again. Your name, please."<p>

"Jamie… Jamie Madrox."

*BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP*

Hank sighed as he pressed the button to silence the lie detector, shrugging his shoulders as Maverick glanced at him.

"Jamie, if you can't even say your name without the lie detector going off, your trial's… well, it's not going to look good," Maverick said. "I realize that lie detectors aren't the most trustworthy pieces of equipment, but that's what you're going to be subjected to at your trial tomorrow. And if you can't even answer the baseline questions right… it's going to make it difficult to convince any of the skeptics that you weren't the individual that killed all those people a month ago."

"I know… I know," Jamie said, burying his face in his hands. "It's just… I mean, I don't _know_ if I'm the real Jamie. More than likely, I'm not… and then that means…"

"Stop right there," Hank interjected. "You _could _be the original Jamie. It's just impossible for us to tell without detailed H.Y.D.R.A. records—which, of course, were all destroyed when we left the base."

"Which is why we should be going after Sinister," X-23 interjected.

"X—Laura…," Maverick sighed, "We've been over this already. He left no trace of where he went, per the Canadian government's investigation of the ruins of the H.Y.D.R.A. main base. I've tried on my own to locate their remaining bases using hacking methods I learned there, but something's… different. I used to be able to at least make a little headway into their network, but their entire network algorithms, even the most basic underlying assumptions regarding their programming, have changed. They make the U.S. Defense Department's network look like it was the work of a caveman in comparison. Sinister must have hired once heck of a programming expert… Plus, I was imprisoned there so long I have no idea where the peripheral bases are anymore, since by their very nature H.Y.D.R.A. moves around often."

"This is why I suggested splitting our efforts," Laura said, crossing her arms.

"With all the madness going on right now, that's simply not doable," Maverick replied. "And what have I told you about attempting to take charge, Laura? Leave the decision-making to the instructors when it regards what the X-Men will be doing. That's the first term of agreement you accepted upon returning here."

Laura said nothing in reply, but her stern expression remained.

"Look, whatever," Jamie said. "The point is, I'm probably… probably _never_ going to know if I'm the original Jamie. And since I'm never going to be sure, how can I answer that question calmly? I mean, with all the stuff H.Y.D.R.A. did to me, I barely even recognize myself in the mirror anymore. I look like I'm four years older, even though I'm not. People are going to have a tough time believing I'm thirteen."

"I understand your problems," Hank said sympathetically, "But you've got to somehow suppress your doubts for the time being until we can—"

"Hank, I think I might actually have the answer for this, if you'll allow," Maverick interrupted, "Even though the methods may not be to your liking."

"…Go ahead," Hank nodded.

"Alright, Jamie, look at me," Maverick said, taking a seat in another chair in the medlab and rolling it up until he was face-to-face with Jamie. "I realize this might be tough love, but having dealt with H.Y.D.R.A… well, unfortunately this is the way it has to work sometimes. I think you ought to seriously think about the ramifications of what happens if you are NOT, in fact, the original Jamie. What does it matter?"

"What… what do you mean 'what does it matter'?" Jamie said exasperatedly. "If I'm not Jamie, than my entire… my entire existence is a _lie_! Since every one of the clones was slightly different, than it means that my thoughts, my goals, the stuff I feel… it's not what the real Jamie would have felt!"

"But the real Jamie is, more than likely, dead. You are your own person. Just because you have Jamie Madrox's name but not his 'original' thoughts does not make you any less of a genuine person than if you were somebody named Jamie…Jamie Madison, or George Hofstadt, or Mao Ying. Just like everybody else on this planet, you have thoughts, fears, desires."

"I… I guess that's true, b-but… a buncha people that looked exactly like 'Mao Ying' or whomever, they didn't massacre people in the Midwest!" Jamie said.

"Yes, but we know YOU didn't massacre people in the Midwest, and that's a pretty good start," Maverick said. "We just have to convince the public—or at least the jury—of it."

"Now, let's try again," Maverick said, breathing out slowly. "Hank, turn on the lie detector."

"…Alright, it's on."

"Now," Maverick said, looking Jamie in the eyes, "Your name, please?"

Jamie sighed before responding. "Jamie Madrox."

*BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP*

"Sorry—sorry, I'm so bad at this," Jamie mumbled as Hank turned the machine off.

"Can I interject?" X-23 asked Maverick.

Maverick eyed X-23 for a moment before responding. "Alright… but realize you're giving advice, not orders."

X-23 nodded briefly before stepping forward and looking down at Jamie.

"Multiple, if you are unable to get over your lack of individuality—"

"Now, hold on, I wouldn't put it quite like _that_—" Hank protested.

"—then you need to learn to control your body's responses. You need to learn to lie."

"Wait, what? But I'll be under oath!" Jamie said.

"I am not saying that you will be lying in the conventional sense," Laura said, catching the glares coming from Maverick and Hank. "However, even though you are not comfortable in what you are saying, you will learn to control your body's telltale signs of anxiety and stress."

"I'm… I'm not totally sure what you're saying…" Jamie responded.

"Beast, please hook me up to the lie detector instead of Multiple," Laura asked. "Also hook up the equipment that monitors my heart rate, the amount of perspiration, and any data relevant to the matter at hand."

Beast glanced over at Maverick, who nodded, and they both did as Laura suggested.

Now, with Laura taking over Jamie's place in the chair while Jamie watched, she told Maverick, "Now. Ask me the question. Or any question."

"I see where you're going with this," Maverick smirked, "But I'll oblige for Jamie's benefit. Hank, are you recording everything?"

"Yep."

"Alright, then…. Your name, please."

"Allison Treacher," Laura responded. Though her demeanor was the same, she gave no visual signs that she had just lied.

Jamie and Hank both looked at the lie detector….which didn't show so much as a blip of abnormality.

"I don't see how her lying is going to…" Jamie began.

"You'll see, you'll see," Maverick responded, waving off Jamie before refocusing his attention on Laura.

"Alright, Miss Treacher, where were you last night at 6:30 P.M?"

"I was watching a rerun of 'Seinfeld' in my apartment at 3789 Riverwood Avenue, by myself."

The lie detector still didn't beep.

"Can you elaborate?"

"6:30 is my usual dinner time, since I get home from my job at Wal-Mart around six and am pretty hungry," Laura continued, not missing a beat. "I had just microwaved a frozen dinner and sat down to eat, when I heard a commotion out on the street and looked out the window facing Riverwood Avenue to see what was going on…"

* * *

><p>"…So let me get this straight," Jamie said, it having taken him a while to pick his metaphorical jaw off the floor after Laura had finished the extensive questionnaire, all without any of the equipment hooked up to her showing any abnormalities at all. "In order to have chance tomorrow, I have to be able to do… that? She was trained, like, almost all her life in H.Y.D.R.A. to be able to do that!"<p>

"Not _quite_ that," Maverick said. "Again, you won't be outright lying. You just need to be able to control things like your heartbeat and brain waves in an interrogation setting. Because you've been so stressed out, even when you're telling the truth you exhibit the symptoms of someone lying."

"H-how… how can you do that?" Jamie asked Laura.

Laura waited a moment before responding. "I'm not completely certain. I have been trained to deal with these sorts of things for nearly as long as I can remember. However, it does seem to help that no matter what identity I acquire or story I fabricate, it seems more believable to the average person than my actual history."

"Isn't that the truth," Jamie muttered. "Well, it WOULD be, if people didn't see a bazillion Jamies invade this country a month ago on every single news outlet that exists…"

"Look, if we're going to succeed with this, you need to be able to tune that out," Hank said. "Christoph, I'm assuming you have at least some knowledge of how Laura acquired her abilities on this?"

"Indeed I do," Maverick responded, "And thank you, Laura, for bringing it up. I believe it may be the key here to helping Jamie out. However, Jamie, it's certainly not going to be easy. Even Laura had years of training, whereas you have one night. Of course, we aren't expecting you to be quite as good at it as Laura, but still… are you ready?"

"Like I have a choice," Jamie groaned, his shoulders slumping.

"That's not the attitude you need to have," Christoph frowned. "If you go through this with that amount of despair, you're not going to be able to accomplish anything. Now, are you READY to do this? Because—sorry to be harsh—but if you're not, then I'm not going to waste all night trying these tactics with you."

Jamie glanced at Laura. As usual her arms were crossed, her brow furrowed. But—for just a microsecond—he could've sworn he caught a glimpse of a reassuring smile on her lips.

Sighing and straightening out his shoulders, Jamie said, "Alright. I'm ready. Let's get this done."

"Very well then," Maverick said, smiling. "Laura, I'm going to need you in case I forget a few things. Hank, you should probably get going."

"Are you sure?" Hank asked quizzically. "I think it would be best for Jamie if I'm here, at least for moral support if nothing else—"

"Unfortunately, therein lies the problem," Maverick said. "I realize Jamie doesn't know Laura and I as well as he knows you, and he needs to be able to do this in situations that aren't comfortable."

"…I understand," Hank said. As he gathered up a few things and began to leave, he said back to Jamie, "Just let me know if you need anything. Good luck, Jamie."

"Alright," Maverick said once the door slid closed, "Jamie, what makes you happy? It can be a person, an event, whatever. You're going to need something to focus on, something that we can use as a sort of recall, a baseline 'good feeling' that we're eventually going to need you to think of on cue, no matter what's being asked of you."

"Uh… well, I really liked video games…"

"Close, but sometimes I understand video games can get frustrating. Your mind might drift to that. Something else, please."

"Um…."

Jamie almost opened his mouth to say "Rahne", but quickly stopped himself.

_That kind of feeling probably isn't what he's looking for, either…_

"Er, um… comic books?"

"Eh- alright," Maverick said, obviously not expecting the answer but accepting it nonetheless. "Now, I need you to focus on your favorite… comic book… story, the one that you thought was just fantastic from beginning to end. Laura, monitor Jamie's vitals, if you could, tell me what they're at…"

* * *

><p>It had been a long, utterly exhausting night.<p>

Jamie hadn't gotten a wink of sleep, but it wasn't like he had had a chance. Christoph hadn't been kidding—they really had been up all night, constantly asking Jamie questions, trying to train his mind and body. He had made some progress, he had to admit, but it seemed like near the end his vitals were low simply because he was so tired. Still, Maverick and X-23 had pushed him, kept him awake.

After all that training, it was hard to believe that the day was finally here, the trial almost upon them all.

It was a beautiful day, the sun shining brightly, not a cloud in the sky. It was a bit cool for early August but certainly not cold, and a bit breezy as well. If Jamie wasn't currently being driven up to the courthouse, he might have actually felt calm for a change.

But of course, he knew what was coming. And how much it would mean for so many Mutants beyond just him.

From what he had heard, Mayor Kelly was advising the prosecutors. Big surprise there. It was an unusual trial—usually, a crime like murder on this massive a scale would be judged by a military tribunal, but the public was quite interested in the trial, and given the general uneasiness with bringing a Mutant to a military base—or Washington, D.C.—the decision had been made to hold it at a local courthouse. At least all of the X-Men were going to be in the crowd—well, except for Jean, Jubilee, Paige, and Moonstar. It was currently their "turn" to have their shortened summer vacations, and given their upcoming marriage, Scott had also gone home with Jean to get to know her relatives better.

Oh, how Jamie had wanted it to be his turn… but of course, given the circumstances, he had needed to stay at the Institute until this whole trial business was over with. Of course, that was even assuming he would be _allowed_ to go back home after the verdict…

His parents were both here, which gave him some comfort, but unfortunately neither he nor any of the X-Men were legally able to talk to them until after the trial. There was quite a bit of paranoia amongst the judge and jury about any of the X-Men using their psychic powers to implant false memories into anybody who had the _possibility_ of being questioned by the prosecution, and so all of the X-Men had been kept largely in the dark about who was going to be taking the stand.

Despite the fact that Xavier had kept the mental block in Jamie's mind that prevented him from using his powers for the time being, the powers-that-be insisted that several large, muscular bodyguards in your typical black government suits and sunglasses escort Jamie to the courtroom. As soon as Xavier's car stopped at the entryway to the courthouse, a combination of protestors and news anchors practically accosted the vehicle, but the waiting bodyguards muscled them out of the way of the immediate vicinity while the local police grabbed some of the protestors who had broken through the barricades and handcuffed them, dragging them off.

As soon as the bodyguards opened up Jamie's door and escorted him out of the limo, a huge cacophony of sounds blasted into the vehicle. Jamie thought he heard Ororo—who was driving the vehicle—say something to him about keeping calm and that she'd be there shortly, but to be honest it was hard to care much.

It was even worse around the courthouse than it looked from the vehicle. In the short time that Jamie had a clear view of the courthouse grounds, he saw screaming protestors—from both sides of the debate—straining against the barricades set up on the edges of the street and the sidewalk leading up to the courthouse. Seeing that the person they were looking for had finally arrived, the news media personnel immediately began shouting questions and snapping dozens of pictures, Jamie having to close his eyes from all the sudden bright flashes.

It was then that the bodyguards began yelling something to the media—Jamie could only make out a few words here and there, given the cacophony that was assaulting his ears at the moment. Then he was pushed and pulled roughly by the bodyguards down the sidewalk—the bodyguards yelling at anyone who got a little too close, and then those people yelling back. Jamie felt a slight pressure on his head, and opened his eyes to discover that a black piece of cloth had been put over his head, presumably to stop the onslaught of pictures. It was a bit unneeded, honestly—what he could see from under the cloth was mostly just the legs of the bodyguards surrounding him from every angle. He doubted anyone could snap a good picture of him anymore regardless.

After about a minute—but what seemed like a lot longer than a minute to Jamie—they had finally managed to make their way up the courthouse and inside the main entryway, which the bodyguards slammed shut behind them.

Taking the piece of cloth off Jamie's head and tucking it in his pocket, one of the bodyguards motioned for another one to stay with him by the door while the rest escorted Jamie down the hallway and into the main courtroom. Although the windows were open a crack to let some of the air in from outside and cool off the room—which had apparently been built before air conditioners were invented—Jamie still could just barely hear the crowds from the front of the courthouse grounds.

Jamie breathed a sigh of thanks to the bodyguards before making for the defendant's table, where Hank, Christoph, Piotr, and a lawyer Jamie just barely recognized waited, Ororo presumably joining them all later. Xavier wasn't allowed into the courthouse because of his psychic powers. It was still before they were letting the jury, the press, or the approved passive attendees into the courtroom—both sides were discussing their strategies quietly amongst themselves. Thankful for the relative silence, Jamie walked nervously over to where the three instructors were waiting for him.

"Ah, Jamie," Hank said, patting his student on the back and urging him to sit down. "I know this is tough on you, but I believe with the combination of the emotional training Christoph put you through last night and our lawyer's strategy, we just may be able to pull this out."

Jamie sat down and listened as his lawyer and the other instructors discussed their plans with him, only half-listening. His mind was preoccupied on just what would happen if they were to lose this case, regardless of what strategy they all had.

* * *

><p>"Your name?"<p>

"Uh, Jamie Madrox, ma'am."

No beep resounded from the lie detector, much to Jamie's relief.

The trial had started without anything particularly unexpected happening. Most of the X-Men—as well as a good number of people Jamie didn't know that supported both sides—had filed in, along with about a half-dozen TV cameras, all having been pre-approved to attend the hearing while the protesting throngs and the mayhem that went along with them were kept outside. As each side made their opening arguments, Jamie focused his attention on the judge and the jury. The judge seemed to be genuinely unbiased as far as Jamie was able to judge, but quite a few members of the jury had permanent scowls on their faces before the trial had really even begun.

Not good.

"Your hometown?"

"Hartford, Connecticut."

"And, with the exception of a few months, where have you been living recently?"

"Uh... at the Xavier Institute. On Graymalkin Lane, here in Bayville."

Still nothing.

"Okay," said the lawyer representing the prosecution, Mayor Kelly- and by proxy the United States government- as she turned towards the stenographer. "Let the records show that the lie detector appears to be working—the questions to which we know the answers have been asked, the defendant has responded truthfully as far as we can determine, and there have been no abnormal readings."

"Now," the lawyer said, turning back to Jamie, "We do have confirmed reports that you were kidnapped a few months ago. Please tell us, in a fair amount of detail, how that came about."

"Alright," Jamie said, taking a deep breath. "It's, uh… it's a bit complicated, so… it's a bit of a story."

"I think we all have the time," the lawyer said, smirking.

"Uh, well… it all started almost half a year ago," Jamie began. "Y'see, somehow, a few months ago, I, er… well, I basically split into two."

"Could you clarify for the court what you mean? It's in the public record that your powers allow you to duplicate yourself temporarily. How was this 'split' abnormal, exactly?"

"Well, normally, my, uh… normal duplicates are basically just me. It's hard to explain, but the 'real' me is in control of them—we've never disagreed with each other, we've actually been able to communicate telepathically—see and hear what all of the other duplicates hear, y'know?

"But this other duplicate, he… he had a mind of his own. I wasn't aware I had even split initially, until he talked to me. Other... other versions of me started to appear too, ones with their own minds, but I was able to, er… absorb them back into myself. This one version, though, he kept insisting he was the real Jamie… and I honestly don't remember much after that. Apparently, from what we've been able to figure out after-the-fact, the organization the government's uncovered recently—the one called H.Y.D.R.A.- must've done something to me beforehand, caused my duplication to get all out of control. I apparently kept duplicating, though eventually Jean Grey, another of the X-Men, was able to get in our heads and shut off our powers temporarily. After that, although there were two of me, we were basically held in containment in the Mansion, our powers kept off—until about a month later, when H.Y.D.R.A. invaded the Institute in the middle of the night and-"

And right then, in mid-sentence, Jamie's worst fear came true.

*BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP*

Jamie stared in disbelief at the lie detector. He had been doing fairly well, but just in the past few moments, despite himself, he had started to get overly nervous, and he was sweating up a storm.

"I-I'm sorry," the lawyer smiled, raising her voice to make sure the courtroom heard her over the sound of the lie detector, "Could you please repeat that? It seems you may have gotten a few… details… wrong."

"I'm so sorry," Jamie said, "I'm just so nervous—"

"We all understand," the lawyer said, her tone clearly indicating that she didn't care one way or the other. "But you still need to continue and tell us what, exactly, happened to you those few months ago."

_C'mon, Jamie, you can do this. Comic books…. Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Batman… .c'monnn…._

Jamie closed his eyes and concentrated for a few moments, and finally, the lie detector stopped beeping.

Jamie breathed a sigh of relief as he opened his eyes again and continued. "Alright… I think I'm okay. Anyways, H.Y.D.R.A. invaded the Institute at the night, cutting the power and managing to… managing… to…"

*BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP*

_No! No, not again…_ Jamie thought, his face visibly reddening. He glanced over at Christoph, who was tapping on his own head, a motion obviously meant to remind Jamie about the techniques they had been practicing mere hours earlier.

_I know, I know!_ Jamie wanted to scream, _but it's not working anymore!_

Jamie tried the same thing—thinking of things he liked, trying to get his body and mind calmed down again—but he knew it wasn't working this time. He was in full-blown panic mode, and he was sweating so much he could already feel his suit starting to get wet around the arm pits.

"I, uh… H.Y.D.R.A. infiltrated our Mansion, y'see," Jamie said, wiping the sweat off his brow. "There were… several agents, and one of them somehow, uh… knew… knew about me, and went down….. It was H.Y.D.R.A., okay? That thing's faulty… But anyways, it was this woman with a black circle over her eye, and she took both of us…"

*BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP….*

* * *

><p>"What happened?" Christoph said as the jury left the room to reach their verdict. His tone was one of "whispered yelling", due to the quiet nature of the courtroom, even during the current recess.<p>

"I… I don't know!" Jamie said, tears falling down his face.

The rest of the trial had been a disaster. Jamie had been a complete mess, the lie detector going off at nearly everything he had said. They had even tried to reset the lie detector by asking Jamie a couple more control questions—and he had been able to calm down enough for those. But as soon as the actual questioning started up again, so did the lie detector.

It wasn't merely Jamie, either—nearly everyone called up by the defense couldn't manage to keep themselves together past the first few minutes, while those called up by the prosecution had managed to compose themselves quite well, no matter how intense the questioning got.

"All those techniques, all those trials…" Christoph said, burying his face in his hands. "You were doing fine last night! It took a while, but we got you passing the test nearly one hundred percent of the time! Are you sure you did the techniques _exactly_ like you practiced last night?"

"Yes!" Jamie cried. "Yes, yes, yes! But it's just… something about being up on that stand, I guess… it's such a surreal experience, you've got so many people looking at you, their attention on you… Hank knows exactly what I'm talking about!"

Hank's face would have been red were his skin not covered in blue fur. "I understand what you mean, Jamie… I've never been on the stand before, but something about being up there… I just freaked out in a way I almost never do. I guess the prosecution's questions really got under my skin. I nearly let the beast inside of me out… I had to leave that stand, before someone got hurt."

"Well, we'd better hope we've got one heck of a sympathetic jury," Christoph mumbled into his hands, still covering his face.

"Speaking of which," Ororo said softly, pointing up as the jury re-entered the courtroom.

"Uh-oh," Piotr said. "They have already reached a decision? This is definitely not good."

Ororo grabbed and held a trembling Jamie's hand firmly as the jury filed into the room, the tension palpable.

Finally, the jury's spokesperson stood up and addressed the judge.

"We the jury have reached a verdict, your honor."

"Is the defendant Jamie Madrox guilty or innocent?"

"We all unanimously believe Jamie Madrox is guilty of willful mass murder," the jury's spokesperson said, his eyebrows furrowing and his face reddening as he glared at the Mutant teenager halfway across the room. "He should be sentenced appropriately, and swiftly, to prevent _any_ further calamities of this sort from occurring _ever_ again."

To be continued…


	2. Chapter 2

"The Trial of Jamie Madrox, Part II"

by Beastbot

Jamie just stood there, unsure of how to react. Some part of him knew that this was coming, but had refused to believe it until it actually happened.

The judge arched an eyebrow at the jury spokesman.

"Recommendation noted. But your job is merely to _pronounce_ the verdict. Please keep that in mind for any, er… future cases in which you may be part of the jury, sir."

Turning back to Jamie, the judge took hold of his gavel, raising it in the air. "Now, as per the jury's verdict, Jamie Madrox, I find you guilty and sentence—"

"NO, that's not ENOUGH!" the jury spokesman interrupted. He hadn't sat down, and his face was red, he eyes practically bulging out of his head. "You can't just sit there and sentence him like… like some HUMAN criminal! We need to make an EXAMPLE of him, before this behavior spreads!"

"That is ENOUGH out of you!" the judge said, banging his gavel and quickly growing flustered. "You have done your job, now SIT down!"

A bit of murmuring started to come from the trial's audience about the audacity of the juror. Ororo raised an eyebrow.

_Wait a minute…_

"I'll do MY job correctly when you do YOURS!" the juror spat, starting to step out of the jury box.

"Sir, get back in your seat now!" one of the guards nearby said, putting a hand on his baton as he stepped towards the juror.

"Hey, back off!" said another juror angrily, standing up to fend off the guard. "You don't have the right—"

"I have the RIGHT to shut your trap UP!" the guard growled, taking out his baton and, before anyone else could stop him, hitting the protesting juror hard upside the head.

Many in the courtroom audience immediately stood up at this—some yelling out a protest, others gasping, a few getting ready to leave before things got any hairier—but a strong gust of wind suddenly coming in through the open windows caught everybody's attention.

Especially once it began circling around the white-haired African-American next to the defendant, who had her arms outstretched, apparently guiding the wind around the courtroom as it blew papers around everywhere.

"Alright, that's enough of this!" Ororo said loudly. "We've all been had!"

"Ms. Monroe, it was made very clear before this trial that no Mutant powers were to be used!" the judge yelled nervously, banging his gavel. "Now, I'm not sure why you're messing up the organization of the documents in this courtroom, but you need to desist, and immediately!"

Ororo looked out of the corner of her eyes to see most of the remaining guards reaching for their guns.

"No, LOOK!" Ororo said, keeping the wind coming but calming it down enough where people could hear the jury again.

"What….what's going on?" the jury spokesman said, a bewildered look on his face. "How did I get so….out of control? Judge, please, forgive me—I'm not sure what came over—"

"Oh my god!" the guard who had gotten out his baton yelled, picking up the juror he had struck. "What did I do? What did I do? I've never lost my cool like that, never! I think I hurt this poor woman! Please, we need to get her some medical attention, quickly!"

"Let me check on her," Hank said, quickly making his way over to the shocked guard.

"What in the blazes is going on here?" the judge said, bewildered.

"This has all been a game!" Ororo said, keeping the wind going at a steady pace. "Professor Xavier and I met a Mutant a few days ago… a Mutant who could _control others' emotions_!"

"Wait… what?" Jamie asked. "Is that Mutant here?"

"No," Ororo said, glancing through the audience. "I definitely would have recognized her coming in. But her powers work through pheromones, so she can't be far."

"Your honor, this whole charade is ridiculous," Mayor Kelly said exasperatingly, getting up out of his chair from the prosecutor's table. "Now that the verdict's been reached, these Mutants are trying… trying to make us all believe this was all just fixed? _Please!_ No Mutant 'bogeyman' is here, the entire courthouse was cordoned off hours ago—"

"Rahne, come here," Ororo called, gesturing towards the teenager.

Rahne got out of her seat amongst the other X-Men that had been allowed to attend the trial and quickly made her way up to her instructor. "What… what do ya need me for?"

"Can you sniff her out?" Ororo said softly.

"Uh… well, I'll need you t' stop making all the wind for a second," Rahne said gingerly, glancing around at the confused guards, half of who were standing flabbergasted, the other half with their weapons nervously trained on the Mutants. "It kinda… mixes a lot of the scents."

"Alright, but be quick," Ororo said, gesturing with her hands as the wind slowly died down. "They work faster than you'd think."

Rahne nodded, transforming into a wolf in front of the crowd, drawing a few gasps from the audience as well training the guards' weapons on her.

"Stop this, now!" the judge said, banging his gavel again. "This is your last warning! There are to be no Mutant powers—"

Rahne sniffed twice, then pointed her nose up towards a medium-sized ceiling vent positioned about halfway between the judge and jury.

"You're sure?" Jamie said quietly. "You're focusing on the pheromones, right?"

Rahne rolled her eyes once and barked.

To the surprise of many there, a muffled curse came from somewhere above the vent, followed by sounds of movement.

"Guards, get someone up there!" the judge said, quickly getting up out of his seat at the noise. "Figure out what's going on!"

"Alright, everyone in the crowd, out now, all of you!" one of the guards next to the courtroom's exit door yelled as Ororo began to send gusts of wind soaring through the room again.

All of those in the audience, as well as those in the jury, began to leave in a panic, those near the vent in question practically tripping over each other in the process. Ushered on by the guards, the media personnel that had been recording the trial reluctantly began packing up their equipment as well. Beast helped carry the injured juror out along with the guard who her struck her earlier.

The other X-Men that were present, however, only stood up. They didn't make a move for the door.

"Don't worry, I've got her," Kurt said as soon as most of the people had evacuated the room.

"Kurt, no wait, don't-!" Ororo began to protest, but Kurt had already teleported out of sight.

* * *

><p>Laurie Collins had been as still as she possibly could, but after Storm's wind died down and there was a bark obviously directed at the vent below her, she knew the charade was over.<p>

Cursing, she quickly scrambled together the pillow and snack food she had brought with her, internally making a note to start pumping out a different sort of pheromone, and began quickly crawling back through the air conditioning shaft, no longer paying any attention to how much noise she was making.

Cursing further as she struggled to pull back one of her coat sleeves with her teeth since her arms were both carrying her belongings, she finally managed to do so after a few tries and hit her comlink's video screen with her nose.

"Blink! Blink, this is Wallflower! I need evac, ASAP!"

It was a few precious seconds before Blink responded. Below Laurie could vaguely hear a bunch of people leaving the room.

_*This is Blink. Screwed it up, did you?*_

"I'm kind of in a _situation_ here right now, Blink! Berate me later!"

_*Fine. Where are you?*_

"In the air conditioning duct directly above the courtoom. Making my way left, towards the exit."

_*Oh. Well, that's bad.*_

"…Why?"

_*Honey, I may be able to teleport anywhere around the world, but it comes at a price. You're in a small, enclosed space—a space I've never been. I can't teleport in there with you- my powers don't work that way, they're not quite that exact. I might materialize in the middle of the vent walls, or perhaps below you in the courtroom. Get out into the open and then I can get you.*_

"Well, that's gonna be kinda difficult—they know where I am and it's still going to take me at least a minute to get outside."

Blink sighed through the communicator. *Fine. I'll send—"

Blink's communiqué was interrupted by a brief burst of static as a cloud suddenly materialized in front of Wallflower, revealing Nightcrawler.

"The jig's up," Nightcrawler said, taking a hold of Wallflower's hand before she could react. "Time to show everyone down there just who's… fixing the…."

Nightcrawler just continued to crouch there in the vault, looking at Laurie, a dumb smile slowly forming on his lips.

"Wow, you're kinda… pretty…."

_Good thing I already switched to strong attraction pheromones, _Laurie thought, smirking. _His libido should be in control for now._

"Oh, aren't you sweet," Laurie said, batting her eyes, the dull yellow color of which slightly illuminated the otherwise dark vent. "Could you… do a favor for me? I'd _really_ appreciate it."

"Uh… of course," Nightcrawler replied softly, his face still having the same dumb lovestruck look on it. "Whatever you need."

"Get me out of here, would you?"

* * *

><p>As soon as Kurt disappeared, Ororo knew he wasn't coming back.<p>

Professor, she thought, massaging her temples. _Professor, I know you're within psychic range. Can you hear me?_

A strong thought almost immediately surfaced in Ororo's mind_. I hear you, Ororo. How goes the trial?_

_Badly,_ Ororo thought. _We've been sabotaged. Is there any way you can get on Cerebro?_

_As you know, there's guards here in the Mansion with me, Ororo, and I'm forbidden from using it during the trial._

_Please, try to convince them. The Mutant that we met the other day? She's been manipulating the trial all along using her pheromone powers. We just discovered her in the vents._

_Oh, dear… poor Jamie…_

_Kurt went after her before I could say otherwise, and now I'm sure he's under her spell. She's going to be leaving the premises very soon, and we're going to NEED Cerebro to track her. Convince the guards with you somehow- have them call someone a guard here or something to confirm it. And try to keep in contact with all of us that are here._

_I—I'll do my best, Ororo. Xavier out._

"What's going on?" Bobby said as he and the other X-Men at the trial came up to Ororo, Jamie, Christoph, and Piotr. "Kurt's gonna be back any second with her… right?"

"If she's ready, her pheromone powers work too quickly, I'm afraid," Ororo said, shaking her head sadly. "All of you, I need to head out, search the grounds. Find her, but do NOT get close to her."

"You got it," Rogue nodded.

Rahne, meanwhile, barked and jumped out one of the court's partially-open windows onto the grounds beyond.

"Wait wait wait, hold on just a moment here!" Mayor Kelly protested. "It's already been agreed upon that none of the X-Men present can leave the courthouse—or use their powers—until the trial is over!"

"These are hardly expected circumstances," Christoph retorted.

"I agree with them," the judge said to Kelly. "Those rules are suspended—albeit _temporarily_—until this whole mess can be sorted out."

"Thank you," Ororo nodded. Turning back to the other X-Men, she said, "Now, all of you, go!"

* * *

><p>Nightcrawler teleported both Wallflower and himself just behind the courthouse, safe from the protesting crowds out near the front and still close enough that people on the somewhat distant road wouldn't notice them.<p>

"Thank you, you've been a great deal of help to me," Laurie said in a sickeningly sweet tone to Kurt. "How can I ever repay you?"

"Oh, I can, uh… think of one way…" Kurt said, smirking. Laurie was sure that if it wasn't for the blue fur, the other Mutant's face would be flushed right now.

"Oh, right," Laurie smiled, right before giving Kurt a strong chop to the side of his head and knocking him out.

"Blink, I'm outside," Laurie spoke into her communicator, running out into the open behind the courthouse. "Back side of the building."

Instead of a response, three Mutants abruptly teleported a few yards to the right of Laurie in a flash of light.

"What are Santo and, um… one of the Five doing here?" Laurie asked Blink.

"It's Phoebe," sighed the blonde quintuplet that had traveled with Blink and Rockslide.

"You may want to save the stupid questions for later and _turn around_," Rockslide grumbled as he plunged a massive fist into the ground.

Laurie turned around to see a Mutant made out of ice, a wolf, and a short girl on fire sprinting towards them as they rounded a corner of the building.

"Wait, how did they find me so quickly?" Laurie exclaimed.

"You weren't psychically shielded, so any psychics that were paying attention likely led them here." Phoebe said. "I'm here, and now you're shielded again."

"Now, all of you, take care of them, quickly," she continued. "I can wipe a few minds by myself, but not everyone here."

"They're too far away for me to do anything!" Wallflower said.

Rockslide grunted as the ground underneath Magma began to give way, sending the surprised Mutant into a newly-opened pit.

"Wallflower, is it any wonder why you have your codename? Your problem is easily solved," Blink said, teleporting out of the way as Iceman sent a blast of extreme cold at her.

A split second later, she teleported a few feet above Iceman, falling towards him. Before he could even react, the purple-skinned Mutant teleported away again, but only after touching the ice coat on top of his skin, which vanished along with her.

She soon reappeared back where she had originally been, quickly pushing the ice shell of Bobby's off of her, where it cracked into pieces on the ground.

"Yikes, that's cold," Blink shivered, rubbing her hands together.

As Iceman collapsed to the ground, succumbing to a sudden heat stroke without his ice coating, Wolfsbane, who had been ignored by the others for just long enough, managed to lunge at Laurie. Wallflower had prepped some fear pheromones that she had sent in the wolf's direction, but to her surprise, they didn't seem to have any effect.

Unable to get out of the way in time, Wallflower shrieked in pain as Wolfsbane chomped into her leg, growling.

"Why aren't they working on her?" Wallflower cried, panicking as she tried desperately to shake Wolfsbane off her leg.

"Oh, for the love of—" Rockslide harrumphed, taking his hand out of the ground and smacking Wolfsbane off of Wallflower, sending the wolf yelping as she flew about a dozen feet away, landing on her back. "She's NOT HUMAN in that form, Laurie. So of COURSE you're not going to affect her."

"Quick, Blink, get us out of here before any others come!" Wallflower exclaimed, clutching her bleeding leg.

"Just a minute," Blink said, "There's one thing we need to do first. It's the reason why I didn't just teleport us all away in the first place. Phoebe?"

"It will just take a moment," Phoebe said, closing her eyes.

All three of the X-Men were recovering—Bobby was re-coating himself in ice, Magma had turned back into her normal form and was climbing out of the pit, and Wolfsbane was slowly starting to get back up—but they immediately froze in place. After a couple of seconds, Phoebe opened her eyes, their glow briefly brightening for a moment. At the exact same time, all of the X-Men's eyes flashed, and they fell limp, Wolfsbane converting back to human form soon after she did so.

"It's done," Phoebe said, as she, Wallflower, and Rockslide all touched Blink.

A split second later, all four were gone in a flash of light.

* * *

><p><em>"Rahne? Hey, Rahne, you awake?"<em>

Rahne suddenly opened her eyes and sat up, breathing heavily, her eyes darting everywhere.

She looked around, quickly calming down as she realized that she was in the Institute's medbay, back in her human form. Jamie—the person who had just asked her the question—stood in front of her, having taken a quick step back reflexively at her abrupt movement. Ororo, Xavier, and Hank stood behind Jamie, while Bobby and Amara were on the beds next to her, both of them awake. All three of them had various monitoring instruments hooked up to their arms.

"What….what's going on?" Rahne asked. "Why am I here? Shouldn't I be… shouldn't we _all_ be at the courthouse? And… _ow…_ why does my jaw hurt so much?"

Reaching up to her mouth, she felt a welt on one side of her jawbone. It wasn't broken, but it felt out of alignment.

"Hrrm," Hank said, shaking his head. "So you don't remember either, then?"

"Remember what?" Rahne asked, clutching her jaw.

"Okay, well, uh—first things first," Jamie said. "Good news? The trial's been postponed until tomorrow because of all the… tampering, and everything. Bad news? I have to do it _all over again_."

"The trial's… over?" Rahne asked, flabbergasted. "But… it was just a few seconds ago that I was running after—"

"Yeah, I felt like no time had passed at all when I woke up a few minutes ago, too," Bobby said. "But… well, look at us, Rahne. Something DID happen to us. You've got some bruises and obviously some jaw pain, Amara's got a few bumps too, and I've got a couple of burns under this ice skin I'm wearing."

"But… how?" Rahne asked.

"You remember zeroing in on Laurie Collins, after I pinpointed her location with Cerebro and sent a message giving her exact location, correct?" Xavier asked.

"Yeah, after she had somehow affected Kurt… wait, where IS Kurt?" Rahne said, interrupting herself.

"He's fine, he's fine," Ororo said. "He just got a slight knock on the head, he recovered from it a few hours ago, he's elsewhere in the Mansion. But he doesn't have the same… well, memory lapse… that you three do. Even though he was knocked unconscious too, he was aware that some time had passed when he had woken up—and how he had gotten his injury."

"So… what happened?" Rahne said.

"Well, therein lies the problem," Xavier said. "Soon after I alerted you three as to Laurie's location, her signature disappeared from Cerebro. I couldn't find her anymore. And then by the time the others had gotten out there, they had found you three—unconscious- as you are now, with your injuries. There was a collapsed pit of ground we found Amara in, and a smaller hole in the ground some distance away from all three of you, but other than that, nothing."

"So we were in a fight, then," Rahne said. "But then how come—?"

"All three of you are exhibiting the classic symptoms of a mind wipe," Xavier interrupted, tapping his steepled fingers together thoughtfully.

"So Laurie has mental powers, too?" Rahne asked.

"No," Xavier said, shaking his head. "I ran a more thorough search on her via Cerebro, after the trial. Someone matching her physical description went missing a few weeks ago in Berkeley, California. Cerebro registered a Mutant signature briefly in Berkeley at around that time, until, like many others, it disappeared less than four hours later. I would gather she's one of the many 'missing Mutants' we've been hearing so much about lately, but this time whomever 'captured' her sent her back. On a mission."

"So Magneto, then," Bobby said. "I mean, we all figured out a while back he's the one behind all the Mutant disappearances, right?"

"Well, it's a likely hypothesis," Xavier said. "However, we still have no _absolute_ proof that Magneto is kidnapping or harboring Mutants. Hence the public's distrust of us increasing even more lately."

"Yes, but it's a bit more troubling than that," Hank added, stepping in. "Given the level of secrecy in this, Magneto must have more assets at his disposal than even we thought. I mean, let's look at this—whenever a Mutant emerges, they disappear from Cerebro's scanners within hours, no matter where they are in the world. Up until now they've never reappeared. And now this… 'Laurie Collins', or whoever she really is… shows up suddenly here, in Bayville, with a fabricated record that's at least solid enough to stand up to an initial biographical data query from Cerebro. She knew exactly where to stay in the Bayville Courthouse that would allow her pheromones to affect us easily without revealing herself—I would argue too easily, given that the guard, some members of the jury, and the judge started to get overly emotional very quickly. And then when discovered, she quickly makes her way out, disappearing. There was apparently a battle, but neither of you remember it."

"Magneto's got his bases covered, it looks like," Bobby whistled.

"However many Mutants he has, it seems he has at least one to deal with almost any kind of circumstance," Hank continued. "Besides Laurie and the Acolytes we already knew about, he must have either have a long-range teleporter or several shorter-range teleporters like Kurt scattered throughout the globe. He has someone who can implant false information in government database computers, whether it's by some sort of technical-interface Mutant power like Danielle's, an agent working for the government, or simply via good old-fashioned hacking. He has Mutants able to take all three of you out quickly enough that they were all gone before the rest of us even got outside the Courthouse. He also has at least one Mutant who's one heck of a telepath—not only did this person wipe your minds, and quickly, they were able to put mental resistance shields in every other Mutant that they brought with them."

"I detected no other Mutant signatures at the Courthouse, and I was using Cerebro very shortly after Storm contacted me mentally about the situation," Xavier explained. "Even Laurie's signature appeared to vanish shortly after she appeared outside the grounds with Kurt."

"Well, wait, what about Mastermind?" Jamie asked. "Mastermind has mental powers, right?"

"True, but not like this," Xavier replied. "Mastermind's specialty is with creating psychic illusions. He could never keep his Mutant signature from Cerebro's detection, and given his power level it would take focused concentration for a least a few minutes for him to wipe someone's mind. No, whoever this was was a far more powerful telepath than Mastermind."

"That's… really scary," Rahne said, bringing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around her legs in a nervous gesture as she began to rock back-and-forth slightly in her bed.

"So basically no matter what we do, no matter how many precautions we take, they can still do whatever they want?" Bobby exclaimed. "We REALLY need to increase the Mansion's defenses. Big time."

Xavier shook his head. "No, if they were going to attack us, they would have done so already. I knew Magnus for quite some time before we became enemies, and that isn't his modus operandi."

"His _what_?" Jamie mumbled.

"His way of doing things," Hank explained. "I agree with Charles, Magneto's more about making grand statements, trying to get other Mutants to see his point of view. Attacking us outright might actually turn more Mutants against him."

"So… the whole reason he wanted to manipulate the trial was to 'prove' humans would turn against us, no matter what?" Jamie asked.

"Most likely, though the discovery of Laurie will dull the impact of that," Xavier said. "_Hopefully_ it will turn other Mutants against him. However, more worrying is that I fear Mutant public opinion may have already turned against _us_. Magneto's been abducting Mutants for months by now, and yet we've not heard from ONE disgruntled former Acolyte, not one lone Mutant who's come to our door with information on where Magneto is and what exactly he's up to."

"Well, as unpleasant as it may seem… could he just be killin' any Mutants he abducts who don't agree with him?" Rahne asked.

"It's technically possible, but I doubt it," Xavier replied. "I don't think killing any disagreeable subordinates would play well with as large a portion of the Mutant population as we hypothesize he has."

"So… how many do 'we' think he has?" Jamie questioned.

"Well…" Hank said, "It's a bit difficult to tell. We can't assume that _every_ Mutant that's disappeared was in fact abducted by Magneto—as opposed to suicide, violence, etcetera—plus it's more difficult for us to access databases from other countries, and if someone is relatively isolated that would mean—"

"Hank, please," Xavier said, "I understand the point you're making, but I don't think it helps the situation to obfuscate the result."

"Very well," Hank sighed. "We're guessing… somewhere between one hundred and one hundred seventy-five, thereabouts."

"_One hundred_ is the _low_ end?" Bobby said in disbelief. "Well then… then what the heck are we even _doing_ this for? If that many Mutants follow Magneto now compared to how many X-Men we've got—it doesn't matter how well-trained we are, there isn't even gonna be a smear of us on the wall left whenever they're through!"

"I'm hoping events will persuade enough of them to abandon Magneto, making his ideals a bit of a 'flavor of the month' among Mutantkind because of the situation now with registration fairly imminent," Xavier said. "That said… we're definitely going to need to be at our highest readiness level come Registration Day."

"You think they'll launch an all-out attack on Bayville or something?" Amara asked.

"I don't know, none of us do. Therein lies the problem, and we've got to do something about it—and soon." Xavier responded.

"Well, I think the _good_ news to come from this is that with that many people on his side, someone's got to slip up," Beast said. "I mean, we very nearly caught this 'Laurie Collins' person, and even the _lack_ of evidence this time has led us to conclusions we would have been unsure of otherwise. It's only a matter of time before we get some real, concrete evidence of where Magneto and his band of Acolytes are and how they've been keeping themselves a secret from the world."

"Well, let's hope that it happens before Magneto makes whatever move he's undoubtedly going to," Amara said.

"I feel kinda weird saying this, but I wish S.H.I.E.L.D. was still around," Bobby said. "At least they could've helped us figure all this out."

"They're still around, they're just currently hiding to escape blame for the whole Nimrod thing," Beast reminded her. "Whenever they decide to reveal themselves to us again- well, that's the question. Though given S.H.I.E.L.D.'s history, I expect they'll show up again when they know they've successfully dodged the Nimrod blame bullet, almost regardless of the state the world is in."

"Regardless, we can't just hope that they'll show up," Xavier responded. "We're going to have to take the initiative. Somehow, we're going to have to find a way to locate Magneto's base of operation, and quickly."

* * *

><p><em>Wallflower is here to see you, Magneto.<em>

It was so refreshing, these past couple of weeks, being able to walk around without having to wear that uncomfortable helmet. Here on the new Genosha, the type of metal they had built into the very walls of the ever-increasing number of buildings was of the same type that he had made his helmet from, essentially protecting all of them from long-range mind control or manipulation. But most importantly, it kept their Mutant signatures hidden from the world—and, more importantly, Cerebro.

Still, with their Cerebro Mark II—run by the Five-in-One—they ran into the problem of how to get messages sent quickly to his Acolytes. One of his newer recruits, who had been an engineer in his "earlier life" and went by the name Prodigy now, suggested running a small feed from Cerebro Mark II into every building on Genosha—an implementation that was proving to be very useful.

Magnus would have to make sure Prodigy received one of the better buildings for his home when all of this construction was said and done.

_Very well,_ Magneto thought back. _Send her in. And thank you, Celeste._

Opening the metal doors to his chamber with a flick of his wrist, Magneto slowly walked over to look out the window on the right side of his room, gazing out at the burgeoning community below his miniature skyscraper of a home as he heard Wallflower's unsteady footsteps coming towards him on the metal floor.

Interesting gait, judging by the sound. She appeared to have a limp.

"I take it you were injured," Magneto stated flatly, not bothering to turn his gaze towards Wallflower as he addressed her. If there's one thing he had learned over the years of commanding his own team, it was that not looking them in the eye while you talked to them tended to give off a stronger sense of disapproval then even the most intense gaze of hatred- as if they were barely even worth your time.

Which was true in her case, quite frankly. Mastermind tended to handle most of the reprimands, but this was a… special case which unfortunately required his personal attention.

"Yes," Wallflower said nervously from her position… roughly in the center of his chambers, judging by her voice. "One of those X-Men—the one who could turn into a wolf—managed to bite me before I could react. My pheromones apparently didn't have any effect on her because of her form, unfortunately."

"Yes. Unfortunately," Magneto said.

Wallflower stood silent for a moment, apparently expecting a longer response, but after an awkward pause she continued. "I-I think the problem was that my pheromones were a bit too strong towards the end. I got overconfident and botched it. I thought I kept my cover pretty well intact even when Xavier found my temporary apartment there—I even fed him a bunch of crud about not wanting to choose sides, but I… I'm sorry."

"Wallflower, if you must understand one thing, understand this," Magneto said, finally looking her in the eye, albeit with feigned disinterest. "We are Mutants. Homo Superior. We have evolved past the need for apologies when it is clear that the Mutant in question's intentions are pure."

"Th-thank you, sir," Wallflower said, bowing slightly. "I mean, I got out of there as quickly as possible… and Blink, Rockslide, and Phoebe really did a great job in helping me when I needed them. I think… I think we're really starting to work together well, here."

"I agree," Magneto said, smiling slightly. "In just a few short weeks, we've managed to not only increase our ranks exponentially, but we have at least two dozen buildings up, with more being constructed every day. You see how much better-functioning, how much _better_, a society composed solely of Mutants is? It would have taken humans months, if not years, to do all this. But each of us, using our powers for the benefit of the community, have been able to accomplish this… and so much more, as the world shall see soon enough."

"Right, absolutely," Wallflower said, her tone finally starting to sound more relaxed. "So, um… should I leave now?"

"Actually, I've got a particularly special job for you," Magneto said, Blink teleporting in behind him as he finished the sentence. "Blink here will show you where you'll be working."

"Oh, um… okay…" Wallflower said as Blink, her expression unreadable, walked over and took a hold of her hand. "Where to?"

"Five thousand feet above… oh, let's say the North Pole," Blink said sweetly.

"W-wh-?" was all Wallflower managed to stammer before they both vanished.

Magneto sighed, pinching his sinuses as he turned back to look out the window.

_Five-in-One, please remove the memory of Wallflower's existence from everyone on Genosha, including myself. And make sure to do the same to Blink, too, when she returns._

_As you wish._

Magneto hated the thought of anyone tampering with his own mind, even those he had come to trust as much as the Five-in-One. However, it was rather difficult, getting rid of the incompetents without anyone else knowing. Especially when you were a Mutant nation with psychics among the general populace. One accidental mind read, and your secret was exposed. Granted, simply wearing his helmet would negate _that_ problem, but it was widespread knowledge what that helmet was for. Walking around wearing it all the time would imply that he had something to hide, and distrust was _not_ something he wanted to be building at this critical juncture. To create a successful society, he needed to clean out the riff-raff, even among Mutants, and if the Genoshan public knew he had been killing off those who had failed him, they might revolt.

He idly wondered how many he had let Blink teleport away to their death. Only the Five-in-One knew at this point…

…Wait, whom had he been thinking about?

* * *

><p>In retrospect, the final outcome of Jamie's trial had seemed inevitable after it was discovered to have been manipulated the first time around.<p>

The second trial was held with an entirely different jury, with the prosecution and the defense making the same general arguments as they had the first time—but this time, Jamie and all the other defendants were able to hold their own. Jamie, as expected, had still been a little nervous—the lie detector had gone off briefly once or twice near the beginning—but as the trial wore on and Jamie became more comfortable with stating his case, most of the jury seemed to become more sympathetic to their cause. In the end, the decision had taken a few hours, but the jury eventually gave a 'not guilty' verdict, and Jamie Madrox was cleared of all charges.

Rogue figured that Laurie Collins' interference had been the only thing that had led to this outcome. Magneto had shot himself in the foot, for once. Two days ago, she had never privately even entertained the notion that Jamie would come out of that courthouse a free teen. Some in the X-Mansion agreed with her, some just thought she was being too pessimistic, and things were finally starting to turn around despite all the background meddling by Magneto. No, really.

Rogue shook her head, trying to clear those thoughts out of her mind. There was plenty of time to think about the future later. Right now, everyone at the Mansion was having a party in celebration of Jamie's freedom, and of course, Jamie was the happiest of all. It was so heart-warming to see the poor kid smiling and care-free for the first time in months—though truthfully so much had happened these last few months, it seemed like another lifetime when Jamie was a short little happy dork of a kid. Having his parents here, finally able to see him after the trial, definitely was helping his mood, too.

Heck, even X-23 seemed a bit happy tonight—so at the very least, _she_ should be able to manage thinking positive at least for a few hours…

"Hey…Rogue, is it?" Jamie's father gasped back from his position in the middle of the gathering room, where he—along with his son, Amara, and Kurt—had been until just recently waving back and forth, playing one of the many Wii party games the system had available. "I need to- to take a breather. Getting a bit too old for this stuff. You want to take my spot?"

"Uh—sure, that'd be—" Rogue began, but was interrupted as her cell phone began to vibrate in her pocket. Holding up a finger, she looked up who was calling her. Her eyes opened up briefly in surprise.

"—Maybe in a while, Mister Madrox," Rogue said, getting up quickly and making her way out of the room. "I need to take this. Hey, let Piotr get in on the action. He's actually better at this kinda stuff than you'd think."

As soon as she was out of sight of the others, Rogue practically sprinted up to her room.

* * *

><p>Closing the door shut quietly, Rogue gingerly sat down on the side of her bed and answered the phone.<p>

"Why are you calling here? It's late, you know I'm at the Mansion, and you're gonna get me in trouble. I know you've helped us in the past, but if the Prof knew I even had your number listed on my phone—"

*_Listen, cherie, this ain't exactly a casual house call… though I _did_ hear the good news. Congratulations._*

"I'd pass that onto Jamie, but I'm pretty sure he wouldn't like the fact that I'm talking to you anymore than the Prof."

*_Well, I think pretty soon y'all are gonna have to get over that. Y'see, I'm calling because, believe it or not, I have a proposition for you_.*

"…I'm listening."

* * *

><p>"I have to admit, at first I wasn't too keen on trusting you. I mean, some mysterious albino Mutant just meets me while I'm running one of my many missions around the world and has an interest in me. You already know about Genosha and everything, and I have no idea <em>how<em>."

"Let's just say my superior has quite an interest in this fledgling country you're such an integral part of."

"And your superior is…?"

"A Mutant, don't worry. And one who has the same philosophy as you, that we are Homo Superior, we should rule, etcetera, etcetera. But he's also somebody who, like you, is increasingly skeptical that Magneto is the one to do all the ruling."

"Well… I dunno. I put on a _great_ act when I'm with him, I must say, but my doubts are rising. I haven't known him for too long, but he's taking on too many responsibilities—I mean, he's forming plots within plots within plots."

"Exactly. And look where that's getting you."

"You're right. I'm killing Mutants at his whim, and I don't even know how many! I just know I've done it a lot, because it feels… routine, somehow. I mean, I just teleported here after, er, 'disposing' of Wallflower. Yeah, she was a bit dumb, but I don't know if she deserved to die for it… she's still one of us, after all. And I _know_ as soon as I go back I'm going to forget about her completely."

"Well… then I think it's time for you to decide if you want to trust me, now, before we go any further with this… relationship."

Blink stood there for a moment, mulling it over. "You have to realize trust doesn't come to me easily. If you knew who I was when you first met me, then obviously you know my past."

"I realize that…. Here, let me show you the benefits before you decide."

Gesturing with his hand, a small, diamond-shaped object with pulsing light blue veins suddenly pulled free of the Mutant's forehead, breaking into two smaller chunks before hanging there, suspended in midair between the two of them.

"…What the heck is _that?_"

"Technology. Very advanced. It's the kind of stuff my superior dabbles in. Anyways, if you allow one of these to merge with you, it will protect you from the routine mindwipes Magneto apparently subjects you to—in fact, it will protect your mind from any psychic intrusion, period, and eliminate your Mutant signature from any instrument designed to locate it. You won't have any sort of collar around your neck should Magneto ever be curious as to where you are."

"What, and _this thing_ isn't some sort of high-tech collar?"

"Oh, no no no, far from it. After all, it's been in _my_ head for days now, and I've grown to quite like it. Why? Because it _expands_ your powers. Granted, it will only do so if we decide you've proven trustworthy enough—which you will have to do as events unfold—but if you do what we ask, we'll unlock it and you'll be able to do things you've merely dreamed of. As powerful as you are right now, it'll seem like child's play once you've unlocked your full potential with this little beauty."

"And there's no negatives to it."

"None at all—otherwise why would I have one in my head, as well? …So, do we have a deal?"

"…What the heck," Blink shrugged. "I'm already being subjected to mindwipes often, and killing a bunch of Mutants I don't really want to. Fine, I'll give it a try. _A try_."

"Good choice," Sinister smiled, gesturing as the two hovering diamonds pointed themselves towards the two Mutants and slowly floating towards their skulls, eventually merging with them, any visual evidence of their existence disappearing.

"Wow," Blink said, her wince disappearing as the melding finished. "That didn't hurt at all… or even tingle."

"There, you see? Nothing to worry about," Sinister said. "Now, I believe you have somewhere to be."

"Right," Blink said. "I'll report to you soon, as promised. And next time I want to meet whoever this boss of yours is."

"I'll be sure to let him know. Ta-ta," Sinister replied back, waving happily as Blink teleported away in a flash of light.

The End


End file.
